Janneken Smucker

Assistant Professor of History

Office Location: 216 Main Hall
Phone: 610-436-2345
Email: jsmucker@wcupa.edu

Current Vita

Teaching Interests:

Digital History; Public History; Material Culture; American social and cultural history; American Studies; Consumer Culture; and Globalization.

Current Research:

Dr. Smucker is currently working on her book manuscript, Amish Quilts: The Story of America's 'First Abstract Art,' under advance contract with Johns Hopkins University Press, exploring these objects and the people who have made, bought, sold, preserved, and cherished them. She is also serving as consulting curator for a permanent exhibition and website interpreting the history of quilt-making in the western world for the International Quilt Study Center & Museum at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Brief Biography:

Dr. Smucker's specialties include American material culture and digital history. Prior to joining West Chester's history department, she spent two years as a Content Specialist at Night Kitchen Interactive, a Philadelphia design firm specializing in websites and interactive experiences for museums and cultural institutions, including several Smithsonian museums and Monticello. On her digital projects, she focuses on using technology to engage the public in history by presenting content in accessible, interactive ways. Dr. Smucker earned her Ph.D. in the Program in the History of American Civilization at the University of Delaware and held fellowships at the Smithsonian and Winterthur Museum and Library. She has published her research in Winterthur Portfolio, Mennonite Quarterly Review, and Uncoverings, as well as in exhibition catalogs.